Town warms to solar power contract

Sunday

Mar 10, 2013 at 8:00 PMMar 10, 2013 at 8:45 PM

By Karen Nugent Correspondent

Town officials are considering an electrical power purchase agreement with a private solar energy contractor using an out-of-town solar farm, which would save the town millions in energy costs over 20 years.

The plan also includes National Grid, which is required under the state's 2008 Green Communities Act to buy around 15 percent of its energy from renewable sources such as solar, wind, or geothermal.

According to Gloria Parkinson and Robert P. Latini, members of the Clinton Alternative Energy Committee, the proposed purchase agreement between the town, National Grid, and an independent energy developer would allow the developer to get tax credits and lower its cost to build sites to generate electricity. The lower cost is passed on to the town. A private energy developer can only claim such tax credits when it sells power to a nonprofit agency, which could be a city or town. Also, the solar facility can be situated elsewhere only if it is within the utility's service area — National Grid territory.

Ms. Parkinson said using an outside, private energy contractor, rather than building a town solar farm as was done in neighboring Lancaster, is because of a lack of suitable, available land in Clinton. The only tract large enough and facing the proper direction, she said, is the closed landfill off South Meadow Road. But a re-capping project is about to begin there and is expected to take years.

SPG, with a solar farm under way in Shirley, was recommended based on its predicted $5.6 million in savings to the town during a 20-year period. Mr. Latini said the committee was so astounded by the figure, it asked SPG to recheck its math. The two other developers calculated 20-year savings of $2.5 million and $2.4 million, respectively.

SPG's first year savings for Clinton, which would use the energy to provide power to municipal buildings, including schools, is predicted to be $195,378 — about a 25 percent reduction.

Mr. Latini said while there would be no cost to taxpayers, money is needed for a consultant. He said state grants of up to $12,000 are available.

Ms. Parkinson said SPG would tie its solar-generated energy into National Grid. There would be a separate agreement between the two, in which National Grid would take a certain amount of this energy at an agreed cost per kilowatt hour. National Grid would then transmit it to the town. In another agreement between SPG and the town, Clinton would agree to buy a certain amount of power from SPG at a lower rate because of the tax credits it gets by selling to a nonprofit entity.

“Hence the term 'power purchase agreement.' In any PPA there are three necessary participants,” Ms. Parkinson said in an email.

Under a 20-year contract, she said, the town would commit to purchase “X” amount of energy, whether it uses it or not. But if it does not use all of it — for example, during the summer when schools are not in session — the surplus can be banked for heavier usage months.

Mr. Latini said how that is worked out in the contract is complicated, and that's why the need for a professional consultant was stressed when they met with selectmen a few weeks ago.

Selectmen approved of the plan, but said they needed to study it. The board voted unanimously to direct Town Administrator Michael J. Ward to look into finding a consultant to be paid for with a grant.

“It's a smart move; it is the future,” Selectman Mary Rose Dickhaut said.

Mr. Latini said the committee also explored capturing energy from wind, but would have needed $50,000 for a survey; and it explored geothermal energy, which he said has a huge upfront cost.